Endearment
by Andrio
Summary: A quarian on her pilgrimage meets a mysterious and distant human biotic. Their friendship grows as they face several trials together. NOTE: SERIES IS POSTPONED INDEFINITELY
1. Chapter 1

"Why did she have to come here," Sheena'Ven nar Dressa mumbled to herself, as she walked down one of Omega's streets. She instantly hated Omega since the moment she stepped out of her transport, got a good look at the station, and saw for herself it was every bit as filthy and unwelcoming as she had heard. But she had to be here; she had to find her friend.

Sheena was a young female quarian whose pilgrimage had begun only a few days ago. Like all quarians, she wore a protective envirosuit. Hers was all black, even the gorget around her neck, and had been meticulously decorated with cloth. The cloth was orange—more red than yellow—and it had no patterns; it was just a solid color. The cloth wrapped beautifully around her arms, torso, and thighs; she had obviously put a lot of time into her look. Her hood was slightly baggier than normal, but it was securely fastened around her neck; the ends of it were loose and free, hanging over her shoulders, almost mimicking shoulder-length hair. She had a single belt wrapped around her torso, just below her chest, and a larger one wrapped around her hips which held some small pouches and pockets. There was a knife strapped to her right thigh, which was the only weapon she carried, and two small chain bracelets on both wrists, made out of plain steel. She carried a small backpack on her back.

She hated the idea of coming to Omega for her pilgrimage; she had heard many stories, and received many warnings, about the Terminus System's de facto capital. The massive space station was infamous for its lawlessness and corruption. Mercenary groups, slavers, and pirates were the ones in control here. With no law enforcement or government, these groups had free reign to do whatever they wanted. The closest thing to law and order on the station was the fear and respect rival groups had between each other. None of this appealed to her; she was generally a kind person who enjoyed socializing and being openly friendly with people. This wasn't the place that rewarded that kind of attitude.

She had spent about an hour walking in what she hoped was the right direction. She often felt the urge to ask for directions, but she felt intimidated by the people she walked past; it felt dangerous to even look at most of them. Since arriving, she had seen numerous alien races in person for the first time. She knew about them, thanks to the six months of training and preparation quarians undergo before going off on their pilgrimage, but it was still fascinating to see them in person. She saw many batarians, turians, salarians, asari, and even an occasional krogan—which she made sure to stay clear out of the way of. But as she walked past a particular alley, she saw an alien she had never seen before.

Though he was an alien, his face had a familiar structure. He had two eyes, a protruding nose, a mouth with lips, smooth skin, and cheeks. Asari, quarians, and humans shared these particular facial features, and it was clear from a distance which one this alien was. He was a human.

He had olive skin, relatively short but messy black hair, and light facial stubble growing on his face. He wore plain black pants and a dark jacket, with a white shirt under it. He was sitting on the ground of the alley, with his back to a wall, one knee bent upwards. Despite his unkempt image, he looked fairly young; he was probably in his early to mid twenties.

Shortly after noticing his presence, she observed that he was throwing tiny pieces of food at a furry, fist-sized animal only a few feet away from him. Perhaps it was because seeing him feed the small animal had been the only act of kindness she had seen since she arrived, or perhaps it was because she had found herself somewhat fascinated by humans ever since she first learned about them, but Sheena decided to go talk to him, and ask him for directions.

"Excuse me?" She asked as she approached.

He instantly turned his head up and looked at her. The very first thing she noticed was the expression on his face. His eyes beaded slightly as he focused on her, and his forehead tensed up as he looked at her with suspicion and distrust. The second thing she noticed, was his eye.

His right eye was a steely blue color, and there were two glowing rings around his pupil, the outer one had three dots that formed the shape of a triangle. His eye was clearly a cybernetic implant, but it looked sophisticated and advanced. For a moment, she thought about how it seemed unusual for someone who appeared to be a vagrant to have an advanced implant like that.

"What do you want?" He asked curtly.

"I was wondering if you could give me directions. I'm trying to find a friend."

"No, I can't."

"Can't or won't?" She found herself regretting the question as soon as she asked it. It almost seemed like his abrupt answer was a warning for her to leave him alone.

"I can't help you. I'm not from here. I don't know the area."

She was relieved by his response; it was an actual response, and not a threat like she expected. But she decided not to keep pushing for directions, "Oh, well… thank you anyway."

He looked away, expecting the quarian to leave. He stared back at the ground where the small animal had been, but it was gone now. Obviously it got scared away by the quarian. He then looked back up at her, realizing she was still there.

"What was that creature you were feeding? Is it a pet of yours?" She asked.

"Just some vermin."

"Why were you feeding it then?"

"Is there something else you need? Or can you leave me alone now?" He ignored her question, clearly growing impatient.

Though his impatience was obvious, his tone didn't seem threatening. It almost seemed like there was a hint of sadness or desperation in it. She found herself intrigued by this human, and despite his rude attitude and unkempt appearance, she got a feeling in her gut that she didn't need to fear him. She was going to push her luck and keep talking to him.

"So, I haven't seen any other humans since I arrived here. Are they just not common on Omega?"

The human sighed. She initially couldn't tell if the sigh was of frustration, or if he was just giving up. "There aren't that many humans on Omega. But this district in particular is almost completely devoid of us," he responded, noticeably calmer than before.

"How come you're here then?"

"I have my reasons. Now please, leave me alone," the tone in his voice made it obvious that the question had hit a nerve.

Sheena sighed, and decided admit defeat and leave. She was going to ask one more thing before leaving, "Do you… need some credits? For food or something? I don't have that much on me, but I can spare some."

The human looked up at her again. His face appeared surprised, and somewhat confused. He looked at her for a short while, and finally responded, "No… I don't need anything."

"Okay. I just thought I'd offer. Well… goodbye."

She looked at him for a moment, then turned around and walked away, leaving the alley and continuing on her way. He watched her as she left. While there were far bigger concerns on his mind, he couldn't help notice she had an attractive body. Quarians have the same sexual dimorphism between their genders as humans, and her thin waist, wide hips, and long legs—in proportion to her body—looked nice. But in no time, she was around the corner and out of sight. He went back to staring at the floor, where the rat had been.

Her mind had many thoughts running through it as she walked down the street. She had never interacted with a human before, so she had no way to be sure, but something told her that the one she just spoke to wasn't a common human. His behavior seemed unusual, and he seemed trouble. Why was he specifically in an Omega district with very few humans? What was the story behind his cybernetic eye? What seemed to be bothering him?

"Heh, Jorid was right, there _is_ a quarian walking down this street!" A voice said off to her side. She stopped and turned her head. There was a turian and three batarians walking in her direction. The batarians were armed with assault rifles, and the turian had a pistol hanging off his hip.

"Who are you? What do you want?" She said, stepping back away from them in caution.

"We want you, cutie," the turian sneered. Sheena immediately grabbed her knife from her thigh and threateningly held it in front of her.

"Stay back!" She yelled, holding the knife tightly. The group just laughed to themselves.

"Ever talk with humans? They have this metaphor I really like," the turian said, clearly amused at her pitiful defense, "'don't bring a knife to a gunfight,' but it isn't much of a metaphor with you, is it?" He laughed as he pulled out his gun, letting her get a good look at it before pointing it at her.

"Do you want my things? Just take them! Leave me alone!" She yelled once more. The hand she held her knife with trembled slightly.

"No, I said we want _you_," the turian spoke in a sinister way, there was no longer any more amusement in his voice, and it was clear he was losing patience.

"What…? No—no you can't! I'll… I'll die! You can't do that!" She was now terrified, believing that they wanted to rape her. Rape itself was an evil, despicable act, but doing it to an unprepared quarian was guaranteed death. "Leave me alone!"

"Oh, believe me, I would _love_ to try some quarian pussy one day," the turian said, "But we need you alive and healthy. Grab her," the turian gestured with his head as he gave the instruction.

The batarians began to approach her, and she threateningly swung her knife at the air in front of her. She was breathing heavily, and her body was deep into 'fight or flight' mode. Fighting was clearly out of the question, so she decided flight was her only option. She was just about to turn to run, when suddenly, all four were instantly blown to the side.

It was as if a massive gust of wind had hit them, and their bodies flew for ten feet, and then rolled for another ten. Their weapons were knocked out of their hands and skittered on the ground. The turian managed to hold onto his gun. He looked up, still laying belly down on the ground, and pointed his gun forward; his hand trembling from the impact. Sheena turned her head in the direction he was pointing, and saw the human she had met earlier standing there.

"If you make a move I'll shoot!" The turian yelled. He had instantly realized that they had all been hit by a biotic push from this human. While the turian wasn't a biotic himself, he knew that biotic attacks were typically associated with certain hand movements and gestures. If the human so much as raised his arm, he would shoot to prevent his biotic attack.

Sheena was looking at the human standing off to her side. He then quickly blinked with his right, steely blue eye, and immediately afterwards there was a loud _splat_ with a snapping sound. She turned her head to the source of the sound, and saw the turian's body at the foot of the nearby building. His body limp, lifeless, and contorted. He had been instantly thrown against the wall by another biotic attack from the human.

"If any of you three even look at your weapons, you'll end up like the turian," the human warned as he approached. The batarians stayed on the ground, afraid to even stand up. This human had killed the group's leader seemingly without even moving.

"Please, human, let us go. We're sorry!" One of the batarians blurted out. He was clearly terrified.

"No, you're not sorry. You're not damned sorry at all. You're just afraid. Afraid like she was," the human retorted, pointing at the quarian.

"W-we're with the Omega Sons!" another of the batarians said. He was afraid to threaten the human, but he hoped that hearing that they were part of a gang would get him to back off, in fear of retaliation.

"I don't give a shit who you're with," the human responded, almost mockingly, "I _will_ kill you if I see you again. Leave. Now," the human coldly demanded. The batarians got up, and ran. None of them even thought about picking up their guns to take with them.

Sheena looked at the human who was standing near her. He was over a foot taller than her, which shouldn't have surprised her since she already knew humans were generally a larger race than quarians, but it was still somewhat intimidating. She slid her knife back into its sheath strapped to her thigh.

"Thank you… that was really amazing. Thank you so much," she finally said. She suddenly remembered that the turian had mentioned a name, "Wait… are you Jorid? The turian mentioned a Jorid."

"No, I don't know who that is," the human responded, and then asked, "Why don't you have a gun? Don't they give you a gun before your pilgrimage?" he asked curtly.

Sheena was surprised by his question. She hadn't expected a human, or anyone really, to know about quarian pilgrimages. But she decided to just answer his question. It was surprising, but it wasn't impossible for him to be familiar with the quarian rite of passage.

"I have one, in my bag. But… it's broken. I took it from my ship's armory before I left, without realizing it wasn't in good condition. It was a stupid mistake," she responded, sounding embarrassed.

"Then _fix_ it."

"I can't. I… I don't know how,"

"What?" he asked in disbelief, "You _are_ a quarian under there, right?"

"Yes, I'm a damn quarian!" she shouted, the question had hit a nerve, "And just because I'm a quarian, doesn't mean I automatically know how to fix guns and ships!"

She paused for a moment, and realized she had just raised her voice at the man who saved her life. She immediately felt regret, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. I just—I've never been very good with tech. I know quarians are supposed to be good at it, but I'm not. It's always made me feel a little alienated back on the fleet, and I've often been teased about it. I'm sorry I snapped at you."

The human looked at her for a short while, thinking about her words. He then walked towards the dead turian and bent over, picking up the pistol that was near his body. He moved towards Sheena, and held the gun up for her to take.

"Now you have a gun that works."

She hesitated for a short while before taking it. She took it, but she felt weird holding this weapon. It was the same weapon that had threatened her earlier, and that had probably taken many lives. She held it in a disgusted manner, with just her index finger and thumb.

"I don't know if I want this. It was _his_ gun."

"A gun is a gun. You point it at someone who threatens you, and that person goes away," the human said as he began to walk away, heading back in the direction of his alley. Sheena immediately pulled her backpack off, put the gun away in it, and ran in his direction. She figured he probably wanted to be alone, but she didn't care. As far as she was concerned, he was a friend now.

"You don't seem to need a gun," she said, catching up and walking next to him, "That was really amazing by the way. I had heard of biotic people before. I didn't know you guys were so powerful."

"We're not," he responded, but then continued, "I am, but most biotics aren't."

She quietly laughed by way of a quick snort and asked, "Well, what makes you so special?"

"I'm not answering that," he immediately responded. They had now reached the alley they met in, and were walking into it.

"Sorry," she mumbled. She wasn't going to pry him for information about his biotic abilities. It was obvious she wasn't going to get any. She decided to try her luck with another question, "What's your name? Mine is Sheena'Ven nar Dressa."

He didn't answer, he just grabbed his bag off the ground where he had been sitting, and proceeded to walk down the alley, carrying it over his left shoulder. She just followed him.

"Oh come on, you can't give me a name?" She insisted.

"Do you always ask so many questions?"

"Yes."

He stopped walking, and took in a deep breath. He sighed, "I'm doing you a favor by not telling you anything about me," his voice took a somber tone as he responded.

She looked at his face as he stood there, and then took his hand and held it. Sheena had forgotten that humans had five fingers, and it initially felt weird to her, but she squeezed it gently nonetheless.

"I just want to know your name. How can that be of any harm? Please?"

She completely expected him to pull his hand away, but to her surprise, he didn't. After a short period of time, she even felt a very light squeeze from his hand. She didn't know it, but hers was the first hand he had ever held.

"You can call me Lev," he finally responded, and continued walking. The momentum of his walking caused his hand to slip away and depart from hers. But she just kept walking beside him.

"Thank you," she said happily, "Wait, I know humans usually have more than one name. A first and a last right? Sometimes more? Which one is that?"

"Just call me Lev."

"Oh. Okay… Lev," she said, still maintaining her upbeat tone.

There was a short period of silence, and Lev finally commented,"I didn't know quarians were this cheery."

"We're not," she answered, "I am, but most quarians aren't,"

She had responded intentionally mirroring his earlier comment about biotics. He turned his head to look at her, and she saw something that almost seemed impossible to come from his face; a smirk. It was very subtle and weak, but it was still a smirk.

There was a lot Sheena wanted to know about this human. She also had to find the friend she had came to Omega for. And there was something in the back of her head that troubled her; why did the turian say they needed her alive?


	2. Chapter 2

The Omega Sons was a medium sized crime syndicate; one of dozens found throughout Omega. They weren't as large or well-equipped as some of the major organizations, such as The Blood Pack or the Eclipse, but they managed to control a few square kilometers of territory, and were organized well enough to have expansion on the horizon. Their headquarters was based in a four-story apartment building, whose interior had been gutted and restructured for the gang's needs. Located deep within the district, there were similar sized buildings to all its sides. There was a service road that ran along its right side, which allowed vehicles to access the building's large garage, which made up half of its first floor.

The three batarians that were with the group that tried to kidnap Sheena were now inside the building, heading straight towards their leader's office on the second floor.

"Jorid! We have news," one of the batarians urgently said as the three entered Jorid's office. His office was well furnished and located in the center of the building; it had solid, windowless walls on each side. Jorid had specifically chosen this location for his office due to its security. By being near the core of the building, he was well protected from outside attacks. He didn't have to worry about snipers from rival gangs picking him off while inside.

The leader of the Omega Sons was another batarian, who currently sat in a luxurious chair in the corner of his office, reading a data-pad. As was typical for him, he was wearing expensive, designer business attire. While he had never been afraid to get his hands dirty as he built his organization, he saw himself first and foremost as a business man, and he made sure to reflect that with his clothes. His attire also served the purpose of establishing his position as leader. While a variety of races made up the Omega Sons, over half of the members were batarians. One's social caste is a major aspect of batarian culture, and dressing better than his subordinates was a constant reminder of his position over them.

"I take it my informant at the space port gave me shitty information again?" Jorid asked in a calm, impassive voice as he continued reading from his data-pad. He could tell by his tone that they brought bad news.

"No sir, he was right. We found a quarian girl."

Jorid looked up from his data pad, at the underlings standing before him. He noticed there were only three batarians; a turian was missing. "Where is Antius?"

"He's dead, Jorid," the batarian responded, "Right after we found the quarian, we were attacked by a human biotic; he killed Antius."

"_A_ human biotic took out the four of you?" Jorid said tensely, clearly upset at their incompetence. Four armed men should have been able to handle a single biotic.

"This biotic, he was powerful. We never stood a chance. He knocked all of us to the ground, and then killed Antius without even moving. I've never seen a biotic like that. He, he was more powerful than even Nezeena!"

"Is that so?" Nezeena's voice was heard from behind the three batarians. She casually strolled into the room, and headed towards Jorid. "A _human_ biotic more powerful than me? That doesn't sound very likely. I think they're lying to you, Jorid. Making up excuses for their incompetence," she reached Jorid, leaned over and kissed the side of his face.

Jorid's girlfriend was an asari in her late maiden stage. Her blue skin had a hint of purple, and she wore a tight fitting white outfit with dark blue accents. Her outfit exposed her midriff and the top of her chest. Despite still technically being in her maiden stage, she was a powerful biotic, even by asari standards.

"I meant no insult, Nezeena," the batarian apologized, "But we're telling the truth, we swear. It was a human biotic, and he was powerful," he made sure to tilt his head to the left; a gesture of respect among batarians.

"A powerful human biotic, here. Interesting," Jorid said with some intrigue in his voice, "What else can you tell me about him?"

"We couldn't get a good look—" the batarian who had been speaking was suddenly interrupted by one of the others.

"His eye! I think his right eye was a fake; a cybernetic implant," the other batarian said.

Jorid remained seated for a short period of time, clearly deep in thought. He then got up and walked towards his desk, where his private terminal was. "Leave. I need to make a call."

. . .

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Sheena asked as her and Lev continued walking down the alley. They were about half way through it.

"You didn't give me a choice."

"Very funny," she figured he probably didn't mean it as joke, but she giggled anyway, "I wanted to ask about your biotic attack earlier."

"Alright."

"We're trained and taught a lot of things so that we're prepared for our pilgrimage, and during my training I was shown a few vids of biotics and their attacks. I remember in all the vids, the biotics always had to do things like thrust upwards, or swing their arms; gestures like that. How come you don't have to?"

"Body movements technically have nothing to do with biotic attacks," Lev began to explain, "But biotics are trained to associate their attacks with physical gestures. By binding the necessary mental processes of a biotic attack to muscle movements, it makes the attack easier to do and more powerful."

"So you don't need to do that? You didn't move when you killed the turian."

"I blinked my right eye. I've trained to be able to associate that movement with a light throw."

"A _light_ throw? Keelah, are you like the most powerful biotic in the galaxy?"

"No. I'm up there, but there are others who can spike higher. My biggest advantage is control; I have extremely good control over my biotic powers. It's how I can unleash a throw strong enough to kill with minimal biomechanical feedback."

Sheena was happy to hear him explain all this. He seemed to be warming up to her a little. Or at the very least, he felt comfortable explaining all this. Perhaps his biotic abilities made him feel alienated, and being given a chance to explain them helped him open up?

"So, who taught you all this? Who trained you?"

"I'm not answering that," he responded, back to his old curt self. The question obviously bothered him, "And _why_ are you following me?"

"Oh don't give me that! You try to hide it, but I can tell you're enjoying talking with me," Sheena teased, and gently bumped into him with her shoulder.

"You sure seem to enjoy talking."

"Of course, quarians are generally a social people. However, the ship I was raised on, the Dressa, is one of the smallest ships in the fleet that children can be raised on. I was very close with my family and friends. Talking to each other and socializing was all we had to do. The whole ship was like a big family, and we always felt comfortable with each other."

"That sounds… nice," Lev said quietly. He meant it. Sheena hoped he would share something about where he came from, but she wasn't surprised when he didn't say anything else. She decided to change the subject.

"Why do you think that turian wanted to kidnap me? He specifically said he wanted me alive," Sheena asked, looking up at Lev. His face just stayed focus forward.

"To sell you as a slave," Lev responded without much thought, "Probably to someone who needs a mechanic, or for some other tech work. It's really the only thing quarians are useful for."

"_Excuse me_?" Sheena stopped walking. Lev took a few steps before realizing she wasn't moving. He stopped and turned to look at her. She then said, "So you don't think I can be useful for anything then? Since I'm a quarian who's not good with tech? You think I'm useless?"

Lev looked at her as she stood there, clearly upset over his comment. He felt a tiny hint of remorse over what he had said. But at the same time, he didn't think he was wrong. He decided to say what she wanted to hear, "I don't know you, so I can't answer that. I'm sure you're good at something."

"Damn right I am," she responded, and started walking again. His answer was good enough for now. He just stayed quiet and resumed walking. Sheena then added, "You shouldn't say things like that about other races. Humans aren't perfect either," her voice was quieter than before.

"We're close."

"Really? And how do you figure?"

"A human can't out-strength a krogan, but he can out-maneuver him. He may not think as fast as a salarian, but he can sure out-power him. A human may not be a natural biotic like an asari, but he can become just as powerful. There's a lot of reasons humans are so successful."

"Oh Keelah… keep talking like that and I'm going to think you belong to that pro-human group that attacked the flotilla last year," Sheena said in a mocking tone. Lev stayed quiet.

They reached the end of the alley, and there was a small, empty street before them. Lev made sure to look in all directions, before quickly crossing it and entering another alley on the other side; Sheena followed. She noticed it seemed like he was purposefully trying to stay out of sight.

"Hey, where are you headed anyway?" Sheena finally asked, as they walked down the new alley. This one had particularly tall structures on both sides, which gave it a very dark and shadowy ambience.

"I'm heading towards the space port on the other side of Omega."

"What? You're leaving Omega? Why?" Sheena asked, completely surprised. She stopped and grabbed his hand to keep him from continuing to walk. They were standing next to an old, flipped over garbage dumpster.

He looked at her for a short while and sighed, "I'm sure it's obvious by now. I'm hiding from someone, don't ask who. I drew a lot of attention to myself back there, and now there are witnesses to my presence here. That's why I want to leave."

"Where are you going to go, Lev?" Sheena asked. Her voice was gentle and showed genuine concern over his situation.

"I don't know. There really isn't anywhere I'll be able to hide for long. But that doesn't matter. I just need to keep moving."

"I wish you'd tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help?"

Lev took his bag off his shoulder and dropped it as he sat down on the ground, next to the dumpster. He ran both his hands through his hair, and let out a quiet sigh in frustration, "You can't help me. And the less you know, the better," He looked up at her, and decided to change the subject, "What about you? Weren't you looking for a friend? What's that all about?"

Despite noticing he was upset, Sheena felt very happy to hear the question. It was the first time he actually asked her something personal; the first time he showed some interest in her as a person. She removed her backpack and sat down too, between him and the dumpster.

"I came to Omega to look for my friend, Vara. She grew up on the Dressa with me. She's older than me, so she got sent on pilgrimage earlier, several months ago."

"Why'd she come to this piss-hole?"

"Because she's an idiot! I told her not to come here, I had heard how bad this place is. Other people warned her too. But she wouldn't listen. She was desperate for '_excitement'_ and _'adventure,'_" Sheena mocked as she said those words. She paused for a moment and sighed, "We… we kept in touch. We'd send messages often, but… a couple weeks ago she just stopped responding. I'm just, I'm worried something has happened to her…"

There was a period of silence, and Lev wasn't sure what to say. He figured her friend was already dead—a very real possibility on Omega—but he knew saying so would just get Sheena upset.

"She was—she _is_ like a sister to me. I really want to find her. She's the only reason I came to this damn place," she said with some desperation; her voice wavered slightly. Her head was tilted down, staring at the ground in front of her as she spoke. Lev could tell from the sound of her voice that her eyes weren't far from tearing up.

Lev lightly bit his lip as he thought for a moment. This quarian girl was unlike anyone he had ever met. She was sweet, kind, and friendly at a level he had never observed before, and he actually found himself wanting her to be happy; she had so much positive energy in her. He finally, hesitantly, said, "I'll… help you look for her."

She turned her head and looked at him, "Are you sure? I mean, you said you wanted to leave…" despite how her words gave him the opportunity to take back the offer, it was obvious from the optimism in her voice that she had already accepted it.

"Hiding is pointless. I'll never stay hidden; not from _them_. The important thing is to just keep moving. If I'm helping you find your friend, then that means I'm moving."

Sheena felt bad to hear him bring up his plight again, and she felt some guilt knowing she was inadvertently profiting from his problem, but she was still glad to hear he was going to stay and help her. "Thank you. It makes me really happy to have someone help me with this. Thank you so much, Lev."

Neither of them said anything for a while. There was a long period of silence, but this time it was Lev who broke it.

"You knew Omega was dangerous, yet you came to look for your friend. You're risking your life for her."

"Yeah. I guess I am."

"Why?"

"She's my friend," she responded with ease; the answer was obvious to her, she didn't even need to think about it. "Haven't you ever had a friend you'd risk your life for?"

"No," he said quietly, almost in a whisper, "I never really got the chance to make friends."

Sheena put her hand on top of his and gently held it. He could only feel the material of her envirosuit glove against his skin, but he felt some comfort from her gesture nonetheless.

"Maybe you would feel better if you talked about it?"

"Another time. Let's just look for your friend," he responded, changing the subject. He still believed that her friend was probably dead, but he figured Sheena needed some closure. At least she wouldn't have a reason to stay on Omega if she could figure what became of her.

"Okay. Thank you again. Vara will thank you too."

It was peaceful in the alley where they sat. The tall structures on each side, as well as the large metal dumpster that they sat next to, gave them a feeling of comfort and security. They were protected by brick and metal in many directions, and each other. Minutes passed as they sat together in the quiet.

"The turian!" Sheena suddenly said, interrupting the quiet, "He specifically said he wanted me because I was a quarian. Do you think maybe that gang took Vara?"

"It's possible. I don't get why they would specifically be targeting quarians like that," Lev commented, "Did she have a place here? Maybe we can find out what happened there. Maybe she's there now."

"Yes she does, she has a small apartment in this district. It's what I was trying to find when we met. I don't have the address, but I have a holo of the building. She sent it to me not long after she arrived. Here, let me show you," Sheena raised her left arm and activated her omni-tool.

Lev watched as she typed into her omni-tool, which he observed was a very old, out-dated, and basic model. The interface was slow and often lagged, but after a short while a holo of a rundown apartment building appeared. It was several stories tall and located on a street corner. Across the street from it on the opposite corner was what appeared to be a strip club. Most of the club was beyond the scope of the holo, but a portion of its sign was visible: _'—st Den.'_

"'Ist den… ust den…'" Lev mumbled quietly, "Lust Den. That strip club near the building is The Lust Den. I know where it is, I walked past it when I first came here."

"You do? That's great!" Sheena eagerly said, "Let's go. How far is it?"

"About an hour's walk. Maybe a little more," Lev responded as he got up, swinging his bag over his left shoulder.

Much to Sheena's surprise, he offered his hand to help her up. She smiled under her mask as she took his hand, and he pulled her up. The two then proceeded to keep walking down the alley together.


End file.
